KL hopes to settle RI oil dispute through talks

KL hopes to settle RI oil dispute through talks

Malaysia has said it hopes to settle a dispute with Indonesia
over two oil exploration areas through a series of discussions
and has appealed to Jakarta not to bring the case to
international courts, news reports said Thursday.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said in Kuala Lumpur he
believed the dispute over two oil and gas blocs off Borneo island
could be solved through bilateral meetings.

"We hope that Indonesia will take the position of discussing
rather than going through proceedings," he was quoted as saying
by the official Bernama news agency.

Syed Hamid said Malaysia would continue to send protest notes
to Indonesia over reports that Jakarta was already awarding
exploration contracts for the two areas.

"We will continue to do that because we are the claimant of
the area and the area should not be awarded to anyone," he said.

He urged Indonesia to respond to calls to hold a meeting to
discuss the dispute and warned that bringing the case to the
international courts would hamper exploration progress into the
two blocs.

Both governments have laid claim to the areas, with Malaysia's
Petronas and Indonesia's Pertamina oil company both reportedly
planning to award exploration contracts for the blocs, located in
waters off Malaysia's eastern Sabah state.

Malaysia is currently also engaged in a territorial dispute
with neighboring Brunei, but officials said the two countries are
moving closer to resolving it.

Indonesia is Southeast Asia's largest oil producer, followed
by Malaysia and Brunei. -- DPA